Langford cat survives arrow to the neck in second crossbow incident this week

Oct 07 2012

Ozzy the cat and his owner Donna La Rose at their home in Langford. The cat is recovering after being shot with an arrow.

Photograph by: Darren Stone
, timescolonist.com (September 2012)

Ozzy the tomcat is recovering in his Langford home after having a crossbow arrow removed from his neck.

Donna La Rose said the family pet had been missing for several days before he walked into their backyard on Jacklin Road with a 40-centimetre arrow sticking straight up behind its head.

The arrow penetrated Ozzy’s back, narrowly missing his shoulder and spine. The tip was sticking out from his chest.

Donna ran into the house screaming for her husband, Ron, and then phoned police.

“I don’t know who would do something like that,” she said.

This is the second incident of a crossbow being used on an animal in the Capital Regional District in a week. A dead deer with an arrow protruding from its abdomen was discovered in an empty lot last week near Cordova Bay.

Ozzy went missing Sunday, but La Rose continued putting food on the back porch, hoping that he would come home. On Friday morning, she again went out to check on him — and that’s when she saw the black and white cat walking across the yard.

The 11-year-old pet underwent surgery to have the arrow removed and is now recovering.

Ron, who hunts and fishes regularly, was surprised by how much the incident has shaken the family.

“I never would have thought something like this would bother me this much,” he said. “This is the type of thing that gives hunting a bad name.”

Langford bylaws do not allow residents to use bows and crossbows in backyards. Until last year, an exception allowed them to be used with practice tips.

“We take this matter very seriously, and we hope the public will be able to help us out,” said Cst. Alex Berube from the Westshore RCMP. “We see people shooting deer, but this is a cat — it’s pretty shocking.”

Because crossbows are so widely available, they are difficult to trace to their owners. The Mounties have collected the arrow and will try to lift fingerprints from it, but they may have to rely heavily on the public in order to make an arrest.

“Maybe someone is out there bragging about shooting a cat in the neck,” Berube said.

Westshore RCMP are asking anyone with information about the incident to contact them at 250-474-2264.